Kate and the Beanstalk - Hardcover

Osborne, Mary Pope

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0689825501 ISBN 13: 9780689825507

Publisher: Atheneum Books for Young Readers, 2000

Synopsis

Mary Pope Osborne and Giselle Potter’s funny, magical retelling of a favorite fairy tale featuring Kate, a new and inspiring heroine.

Fee, Fi, Fo, Fum’un,
I smell the blood of an Englishwoman.
Be she alive or be she dead,
I'll grind her bones to make my bread.

Readers will cheer on the resourceful, gutsy Kate as she outsmarts the famously greedy giant.

About this title

About the Author

Mary Pope Osborne is the award-winning author of many distinguished books for children and young adults, including the bestselling Magic Treehouse series; Favorite Medieval Tales, illustrated by Troy Howell; American Tall Tales, illustrated by Michael McCurdy; Rocking Horse Christmas, illustrated by Ned Bittinger; and Adaline Falling Star. The former president of the Author's Guild, she lives in New York City with her husband, Will.

Giselle Potter has illustrated many books, including Once Upon a Fairy Tale House by Mary Lyn Ray, Try It! by Mara Rockliff, All by Himself? by Elana K. Arnold, and Kate and the Beanstalk by Mary Pope Osborne, as well as her own Tell Me What to Dream About, This Is My Dollhouse, and The Year I Didn’t Go to School, about traveling through Italy with her parents’ puppet troupe when she was eight. She lives in Rosendale, New York, with her husband and two daughters. Visit her at GisellePotter.com.

Reviews

PreSchool-Grade 4-This version, far more interesting than the more common one found on library shelves, owes much to Andrew Lang's The Red Fairy Book (1890), which is cited. An old woman meets Kate at the top of the beanstalk and discloses the "back story." The giant killed a knight and stole his castle while his wife and baby were away. "Perhaps you are the one to right the terrible wrongs," says the old woman, going on to inform Kate that she must return three treasures to the knight's widow. Following the familiar pattern, Kate pays three visits to the giant's castle. After she has succeeded in her quest, the Queen of the Fairies reveals that Kate is the knight's daughter and was being tested for her worthiness. While purists may regret the altered rhyme, "Fee, Fi, Fo, Fum'un, I smell the blood of an Englishwoman-" the moral anchor in this version works nicely with the switch in the main character's gender. Careful book design is evident in this appropriately oversized volume. The dizzying perspectives seen from the beanstalk are exaggerated by text that becomes bigger and bolder with Kate's ascent and descent. The language, while accessible, has a fairy-tale formality, but there is lots of ironic humor in Potter's flat, na f drawings. The avaricious giant is uniquely tidy with slicked-down hair and a carefully waxed mustache, and Kate rides the eggbeater like a bicycle as she helps the giantess make breakfast. One of the most lasting and popular of all fairytales, this retelling will make a popular addition to all collections.
Kate McClelland, Perrot Memorial Library, Old Greenwich, CT
Copyright 2000 Reed Business Information, Inc.

Osborne tweaks tradition with this feminist rendition of a classic fairy tale. Here it's Kate instead of Jack who trades her family's cow for magic beans, and later climbs the beanstalk to find a kingdom in the clouds. Like Ann Beneduce's recent Jack and the Beanstalk, Osborne draws from a late-19th-century source for her retelling that incorporates a disguised fairy queen and a motivation for repeated visits to the giantDavenging Kate's father's death. Osborne's witty and spry reworking (she changes the giant's famous refrain to accommodate Kate's gender, "Fee, Fi, Fo, Fum'un,/ I smell the blood of an Englishwoman") shows Kate in a confident light ("I fear nothing when I'm doing right," the heroine tells the fairy queen). Through her cleverness and resourcefulness (and the unwitting help of the giant's wife), the heroine earns back all that the giant usurped from her family. Potter's (Gabriella's Song) airy gouache and watercolor illustrations sparkle with humor and exploit the perspectives offered by the towering beanstalk. With her Princess Leia-style hairdo, a few disguises and a can-do attitude, Kate comes across as a real action heroine, whether setting off determinedly with the family cow, nipping up the beanstalk or pedaling an eggbeater to assist the giantess in preparing breakfast. There's much to enjoy in this spunky picture book, which puts a fresh face on an old favorite. All ages. (Oct.)
Copyright 2000 Reed Business Information, Inc.

Ages 4-8. This delightful version of "Jack and the Beanstalk" seamlessly incorporates several new elements while retaining all the story's winning aspects. First and foremost, of course, is that Jack has metamorphosed into Kate, a plucky girl who climbs the vine without hesitation and cunningly tricks the giant out of his hen, his gold, and his harp. A variation on the plot is Kate's right to the treasure: she is the daughter of a knight the giant has killed. The text is straightforward but punctuated by some delicious dialogue, especially between Kate and the giant's giant housekeeper. The oversize format suits Potter's art very well, allowing full range for huge characters, climbing beanstalks, and raucous action. Using a variety of mediums--pencil, ink, gouache, and watercolor--the illustrations are executed in Potter's signature folk-art style. They are immediate, innovative, and just the right size for story hours. Fee, fi, fo--fun! Ilene Cooper
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved

Edition details

• Publisher: Atheneum Books for Young Readers
• Publication date: 2000
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 0689825501
• ISBN 13: 9780689825507
• Binding: Hardcover
• Illustrator: Potter Giselle
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 40